‘It bringeth them into dangerous perill’: management of and recovery after miscarriage in early modern England, c.1600–1750

Abstract

Abstract Early modern medical literature described miscarriage as an especially dangerous process for women’s health. Recipe books, diary entries and personal correspondence show that some women experienced significant pain and complications, including retention of the foetus and placenta, fevers, haemorrhaging, headaches, and fertility issues. This article illuminates the management of the bodily process of miscarriage and the means used to promote women’s recovery after the event. It considers the interventions that were necessary to combat the complications associated with pregnancy loss allowing the two-stage process of recovery to take place. In doing so it underlines the gendered nature of treatment in this area. It also reveals that married women who desired pregnancies configured even early miscarriages as losses and emphasized the need for the body to recover.